Developing collaboration and innovation in immigration advice provision

我的博士研究探讨如何寻求庇护者和其他人与人权索赔导航英国移民系统。我特别感兴趣的是，在调解国家和个人之间的关系，在一个系统的背景下，移民咨询是高度管制和移民法是异常复杂的（法律委员会2020）和获得法律的援助已显着减少在过去十年（辛格和韦伯2010;梅勒和伍德豪斯2013;约克2013）。关于谁有责任获得正义的想法之间的关系，以及国家在其中的作用，当紧缩政策和敌对的移民政治的政策话语对那些没有法律的公民身份，谁是无法支付私人法律的咨询有关他们的移民申请的深刻影响的时候，奖学金是一个机会，我发展研究，以告知围绕法律的援助“建议沙漠”增长的影响的司法政策（Burridge和Gill 2017; Wilding 2019），由于公共资助的法律的服务的退出。在我的博士学位，我发现，当个人无法获得法律的援助，它可以复合和加剧他们面临的风险。作为我博士研究的一部分，我在埃克塞特大学法学院共同建立了一个临床法律的教育项目，该项目通过“特殊案件资助”计划帮助个人申请法律的援助。ECF计划一直是法律的从业者和非营利部门之间法律的援助改革中特别有争议的部分（约克2013;大赦国际2016）。该诊所的目的是通过协助申请人为其移民案件获得公共资金，便利更多的人利用法律的援助系统。我的博士研究是一个合作项目，开发与两个合作伙伴组织（难民支持德文郡和公法项目）。通过我的研究，我寻求发展学术知识以及实际干预措施，奖学金将有助于发展埃克塞特大学和外部组织之间的这些伙伴关系。通过继续发展我在这一领域的研究，我希望围绕大学法律诊所的工作及其在英国工作的变化动态建立一个更大的研究项目（Drummond和McKeever 2015），考虑在移民咨询中使用技术。有机会向在司法创新方面处于领先地位的海外机构学习，并交流知识，但也需要注意这些计划如何置于围绕诉诸司法的含义的往往不同类型的想法和辩论中。例如，美国在提供法律的咨询方面有着独特的历史，也存在关于大学在为社区提供服务和促进诉诸司法方面应发挥的作用的辩论（Rhode 2009）。我的工作的一个优先事项是考虑如何在英国的大学法律诊所可以开发他们的公益项目和学生教育的机会，同时认识到自己的作用，在塑造强大的话语，围绕英国国家的理解和谁需要负责司法系统的运作。奖学金将使我能够通过出版物巩固我的博士研究的影响，有两个主要目标：促进人文地理学和法律学科的学术知识的发展;并确保我的研究结果可用于政策咨询和法律的和慈善部门的其他形式的政策干预（例如，政策宣传和诉讼）。这也将使我能够发展我的研究轨迹，涉及在司法系统中使用技术的辩论，以及利用法律的创新来开发提供咨询的新模式。

My PhD research examines how asylum seekers and other people with human rights claims navigate the British immigration system. I am particularly interested in the role that advice plays in mediating the relationship between the state and individuals, in the context of a system where immigration advice is highly regulated and immigration law is exceptionally complex (Law Commission 2020) and access to legal aid has been significantly reduced over the past decade (Singh and Webber 2010; Meyler and Woodhouse 2013; York 2013). The relationship between ideas about who has responsibility for access to justice, and the role of the state within this, is important at a time when policy discourses of austerity and hostile immigration politics have a profound impact on those without legal citizenship and who are unable to afford to pay for private legal advice in relation to their immigration applications.The fellowship is an opportunity for me to develop research to inform justice policy around the impact of the growth of legal aid 'advice deserts' (Burridge and Gill 2017; Wilding 2019) due to the withdrawal of publicly funded legal services. In my PhD, I found that where individuals are unable to access legal aid it can compound and intensify the risks that they face. As part of my PhD research I co-established a clinical legal education project within the University of Exeter Law School, which assists individuals with applications for legal aid through the 'Exceptional Case Funding' scheme. The ECF scheme has been a particularly controversial part of legal aid reform among legal practitioners and the not-for-profit sector (York 2013; Amnesty International 2016). The aim of the clinic is to facilitate greater access to the legal aid system by assisting individuals with applications to secure public funding for their immigration cases. My PhD research was a collaborative project that developed with two partner organisations (Refugee Support Devon and Public Law Project). Through my research I seek to develop academic knowledge alongside practical interventions, and the fellowship will assist in developing these partnerships between the University of Exeter and external organisations. By continuing to develop my research in this area I hope to build a larger research project around the work of university law clinics and the changing dynamics of their work in the UK (Drummond and McKeever 2015), considering the use of technology in immigration advice. There is an opportunity to learn from overseas institutions that are leading in justice innovation, and to exchange knowledge, but attention also needs to be paid to how these schemes are situated within often different types of ideas and debates around the meaning of access to justice. For example, the US has a distinct history of legal advice provision, where debates also exist about the role that universities should play in providing services to the community and facilitating access to justice (Rhode 2009). A priority for my work is considering how university law clinics in the UK can develop their pro bono programmes and opportunities for student education while recognising their own role in shaping the powerful discourses that flow around understandings of the British state and who takes responsibility for the operation of justice systems. The fellowship will allow me to consolidate the impact of my PhD research through publications, with two primary objectives: to contribute to the development of academic knowledge across the disciplines of human geography and law; and, to ensure that my findings are available for use in policy consultation and to the legal and charitable sectors for other forms of policy intervention (for example, policy advocacy and litigation). It will also allow me to develop the trajectory of my research in relation to debates over the use of technology in the justice system and the use of legal innovation to develop new models of advice provision.